Tuesday, May 6, 2014

While The Bonefolder is no more, Open Access is as important as ever. For those unfamiliar the article below explains the key concepts. Remember as authors we need to informed about AND CAN exert our rights so that our research and creative output reaches the widest audience possible...

The conservation field has articulated the importance of publishing
our research to disseminate information and further the aims of
conservation. Article X of AIC’s Code of Ethics states that conservators
should “contribute to the evolution and growth of the profession, a
field of study that encompasses the liberal arts and the natural
sciences” in part by “sharing of information and experience with
colleagues, adding to the profession’s written body of knowledge.” Our
Guidelines for Practice state “the conservation professional should
recognize the importance of published information that has undergone
formal peer review,” because, as Commentary 2.1 indicates, “publication
in peer-reviewed literature lends credence to the disclosed
information.” Furthermore, our Guidelines for Practice state that the
“open exchange of ideas and information is a fundamental characteristic
of a profession.” In publishing our research, we can increase awareness
of conservation and confidence in our research methods among allied
professionals as well as the general public.

However, current publication models limit the free flow of
information by making access expensive and re-use complicated. An
alternative to traditional subscription publishing is the Open Access
movement, which strives to remove barriers to access and re-use of
published information by reducing the costs of publishing and rethinking
permissions issues.

To synthesize growing interest in professional publishing and spark discussion, this article proposes to:

Define Open Access and how it differs from traditional publishing in
its approach to access and re-use of peer-reviewed publications

Discuss the implications of Open Access for the conservation field
including interdisciplinary research, outreach opportunities, preferred
medium for consuming professional publications, perspective of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation (JAIC), and author impact.